Trump says no 'time limit' on North Korea denuclearisation

"Discussions are ongoing and they're going very, very well". The president echoed his own statement to reporters from a day before, when he said that "we have no time limit [on denuclearization]".

It marks a shift in tone from Mr Trump who previously said nuclear disarmament would start "very quickly".

US President Donald Trump and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (L) arrive to sign a document to acknowledge the progress of the talks and pledge to keep momentum going, after their summit at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore, June 12, 2018.

In a rare show of unity, two mixed doubles teams consisting players from South and North Korea have booked their places in the round-of-16 of an global table tennis event here.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's announcement that progress had been made "on nearly all of the central issues" in ministerial-level talks held in July, including on setting a timeline for Pyongyang's denuclearization was met with rebukeby North Korean officials.

Pompeo told a Cabinet meeting chaired by U.S. President Donald Trump that progress was made on some issues when he visited Pyongyang earlier in July for the third time this year, but a lot of work remained to be done.

North Korea has agreed after two days of talks with the USA military to return 50 to 55 sets of remains believed to be those of US troops missing from the 1950-53 Korean War - possibly within two weeks, according to media reports.

Trump said he discussed North Korea with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday at their summit in Helsinki.

US and North Korean officials met on the inter-Korean border on Sunday to discuss the return of remains.

The United States will receive the remains of American service members in the coming weeks from North Korea, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday. Many details of those talks have not been publicly released.